


Fear of the dark

by DestielIsFuckinReal



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Based on True Events, Gen, IDK how to tag this tbh, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Outsider, Supernatural Elements, but there's ghosts, well up until the Winchesters appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:47:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestielIsFuckinReal/pseuds/DestielIsFuckinReal
Summary: Casey Stark is your average horror lover. She loves everything that has a ghost, a demon, or a vampire involved, but never believed those things existed, they're all fantasy creatures, right? Well, not really...
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I dedicate this to the ghosts who live in my house rent free

Casey has always been interested in the supernatural, you know, vampires, ghosts, the likes, but she never really believed in it. For her, the supernatural was just stories you tell around the campfire or enjoy in front of the tv with a large bowl of popcorn. That is, until it happened. Sure, she didn't think much of it, shrugging it off as too many creepypastas or the beginning of the flu, but she could swear, she saw a figure at the end of her bed. She couldn't make out the face, partly because it was pretty dark (a glance at the clock on her nightstand told her it was just after 3am), except for the little nightlight in the corridor Casey's bedroom faced, and partly because it seemed like the figure's face and hands, folded on what Casey thought was its stomach, were pitch black. The figure was dressed like a pope, with long robes and a tall hat, and it just stayed there, unmoving. Casey stared at the figure for a moment, and went back to sleep.

She never told anyone about her little encounter until, during a conversation about ghosts with her siblings, her sister said she saw a woman with a hat floating in their parents' bedroom.

«She was looking away from me» she said, «she had one of those hats like the 1920s, with a big flower on the side»

«And she was _floating_?» Tonya, her other sister asked, not believing it. 

Julia nodded her head furiously, «I swear!»

«I saw the pope few nights ago» Casey said casually and three pair of eyes turned to her, «Well, not _actually_ the pope, but whatever that was, it was dressed like one»

«You two are crazy» Ray, like the skeptical he is, chuckled, «you probably thought you saw something because you» he pointed at Casey, «read too many horror stories, and you» he pointed at Julia, «probably were half asleep»

After that, the conversation moved to a funnier topic, but Casey still thought about both the pope and the woman with the hat.

Eventually, the figures Casey and her sister saw became topic of jokes, like "don't let the ghosts get you" or "the ghosts told me I couldn't", stuff like that. It was months later that Casey saw the "pope" again. Still a little after 3am, still at the end of her bed, still staring at her and doing nothing. Casey never willed herself to go back to sleep faster.

After the second apparition, voices started to be heard around the house too, one could mistake them for kids playing outside, but surely not in the middle of the night or when you live in the middle of nowhere, with no houses around for miles, starting as muffled sobs only to end up as full on cries. Some whistles, especially when she was home alone, and even laughter. So she did what every 20-years-old supernatural lover would do, and started writing about her experiences on specialised blogs, doing research and so on.

Years passed, and everything stopped for a while.

For her 26th birthday, her parents gave Casey the house where her and her siblings grew up and decided to move into the city not too far away, for commodity. With both her sisters off to college and her brother having a job in another state, she lived alone with Kyra, her retriever. No problem, right? She's an adult now, with a great job as a teacher at the local elementary school and the mortgage payed in full, she was supposed to inherit the house anyway, it just happened to be years before planned. She started some renovations, turned her brother's room into a library, god only knows how many books she has, and both her sisters' into a guest room, her own bedroom became a studio, and she took the master bedroom as her own. Life went on. Until she saw him again. The most terrifying thing about the "pope" is that he doesn't do anything, he just stares, or at least that's what it looks like, because Casey has never seen features on that black, shadowy face. The next morning, she searched the Internet, what could a pope, if a pope was, want from her? She couldn't find anything, of course.

Months passed, and her parents and sisters came over for the holidays. Her brother couldn't make it, what with being maître d' at an important restaurant and all. That night, when everyone was fast asleep (Casey's parents in the master bedroom, Julia and Tonya in their old room and Casey on the pull out in the living room), Casey heard a scream. It was around 5 in the morning, the cold rays of a December's sun peaking through the blinds, Casey bolted up, looking for the cause of the scream. Nobody was up, so she thought it was just her imagination, and when she asked her family, they said they didn't hear anything. One week later, she heard the scream again, and when she asked her family again, nobody heard a thing like the first time.

Holidays came and went, and with them her family too. Schools open in a week time, and Casey is looking at the leftovers thinking of what she could eat when there's a rumble outside. She raises her eyes to the window just in time to see a black shiny car passing by, and a couple of minutes later there's a knock on the door. She pats Kyra on the head on her way and opens it only to be met by two men in suits. The taller of the two has long brown hair, while the other is all freckles and green eyes. They flash their badges, and Freckles says, «Miss Stark, we are PI Ulrich and Hammett, we were wondering if we could talk a moment?»

What would two private investigators want from her now? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the apparitions Casey sees in this chapter are true, I really saw and heard everything written here (except the Winchesters, sadly)
> 
> Tell me what you think <3


	2. Chapter 2

Casey stares at the men in front of her. What would two PIs want from an elementary school teacher who lives alone in a place where the nearest house is half an hour away?

Hammet raises his eyebrows at her, «Miss Stark?» and Casey realises she's been staring, «It will only take few minutes»

«Yes» she says, moving aside for them to enter, «yeah, sorry»

The two men step inside and Ulrich whistles looking around. «Nice place» he comments.

«Thanks» Casey says closing the door. She scratches Kyra behind her ear, letting her understand that everything's alright, then sits on the armchair addressing the PIs, «So, what can I do for you?»

Ulrich and Hammet sit on the couch across from her and Hammet says, without preamble, «Has anything weird happened these days?» Casey raises one eyebrow, confused, and Ulrich adds, «Any sightings, things or people that shouldn't be there?»

There's a moment of hesitation when Casey thinks of the pope and the screams and, even if she hasn't seen her in years, the woman in the hat. At last, she says, «No»

«Are you sure?» Ulrich presses on and for a split second Casey considers if telling them, but she settles for a simple "I'm sure" or else she'd pass for a crazy person.

There's a moment of silence when the two men exchange a look, then Hammet asks, «Miss Stark, can I use the bathroom?»

«Uh, sure, it's the white door down the hallway» she says, pointing in that direction.

Hammet gives her a small smile, then stands up and walks out the room, hand in his pocket. Ulrich waits for him to disappear around a corner before addressing Casey, concern in his green eyes, «Miss Stark-»

«Please, call me Casey» she says offhand.

«Casey» he starts again, «you seem a little pale»

«I'm ok, just» she clears her throat, «long week» 

The man gives her a small smile, «I'm sure it was»

Kyra sits up from where she's been laying at Casey's feet and rests her head on her legs, and Casey absentmindedly pats her head.

«Cute dog» Ulrich says, «my, uh, partner, he loves them»

Casey looks down at Kyra fondly, «Thanks, I've had her since she was three months old»

When Casey looks up, the man's eyes are trained behind her. His expression is resolute, the set of his jaw hard, but Casey doesn't have time to wonder what it is that Hammet comes from behind her, a friendly smile on his face, and thanks her for her time. She shows them out, and sees as they walk to their car from the window near the door. They exchange a few words Casey can't make out.

\---

That night, Casey wakes up with a strange feeling. A glance at the clock tells her that it's 3:33am. She turns to her dog, finding her staring into space, unmoving. Casey follows her line of sight, just in time to see the woman in the hat float around the corner, and then, out of nowhere and unannounced as usual, the pope appears in front of her, and this time, he's much closer, standing next to the bed instead of at the foot of it. Casey is terrified. From this distance, she can make out a profile in the void that is the face, but just barely. The pope moves his head, leaning closer and closer. Kyra growls, barks, and the pope looks at her for a second, making Kyra cower under his glare, and whine, as if she's been caught doing something she shouldn't have done. The pope turns back to Casey, leans closer still, opening what must be his mouth. It smells like death. It _feels_ like death. Casey hears screaming, and only later she realises it's her voice. She hears a distant door swing open, followed by someone calling her name, again and again and again. She sees the pope disappear like a cheap smoke illusion when what looks like a metal baseball bat hits him before everything goes dark. 


End file.
